NewsSnow2 0 1 5 - 2 0 1 6

T E C H N O L O G Y O F S N O W : T H E S C I E N C E O F S N O W M a k I N G

N E W p R O D u C T S : T H E S u p E R p u M a

C u S T O M E R S T O R I E S : J E O N G S E O N k O R E a 2 0 1 8 a L p I N E O LY M p I C V E N u E

S N O W u N I V E R S I T Y : C L I M aT E a N D W E aT H E R paT T E R N S

S M I S N O W C L I N I C : V I Va L a S V E G a S

V I N Ta G E S N O W N E W S : 1 9 7 0 ’ S S N O W M a k I N G

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Joe VanderkelenPresident, Snow Machines, Inc.

EDITORIALYour team of SMI people from around

the world continue to work hard

developing, producing and support-

ing the best and highest performing

snowmaking equipment and services

in the industry.

We are pleased to introduce the

Super Puma in 2015 in various mobile

and tower mounts. The Super Puma

snow production and ease of use

move it to the top of the class for big

throw and most productive fully

automatic snowmaker.

In this SnowNews issue, you will

read about some of the basics of

the science of snowmaking and

some El Niño weather facts and

perspective. Also included is SMI’s

project at the new 2018 Korean

Olympic Alpine Venue.

Snowmaking continues to be a huge

factor in resort success and providing

the best snow surfaces possible. Our

planning and engineering teams

provide experience for master

planning your custom snowmaking

system. The 2015-16 snowmaking

year is upon us and once again the

weather windows appear to be

shorter with more volatile patterns.

Annual snowmaking investments to

make snow faster and in more

marginal conditions is the industry

direction. So take note of your snow-

making system performance this year

and let us know how we can help.

Take some time and check out snow-

ContentsTechnology of Snow: Science of Snowmaking 3-6

New products: The Super puma 7-8

Customer Stories: Jeongseon korea 2018 alpine Olympic Venue 9 - 10

Snow u: Climate and Weather patterns 11 - 15

SMI Snow Clinic: Viva Las Vegas 16

Vintage SnowNews: 1970’s Snowmaking 17 - 18

Thanks for helping SMI remain successful and a leader in the industry. We promise to keep investing in new products and people to continue to earn your business.

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makers.com, it is packed with interest-

ing and helpful information.

Thanks for helping SMI remain

successful and a leader in the

industry. We promise to keep investing

in new products and people to

continue to earn your business.

TECHNOLOGY OF SNOW3

THE SCIENCE OF SNOWMAKINGSnowmaking has become a critical aspect of mountain resort operations worldwide, highly appreciated – and even expected - by beginners and Olympic skiers and board-ers alike. Natural snow flakes are often formed over days or hours of suspended time in the air. In contrast, Snowmaking has only 3 to 15 seconds to freeze the water.

There’s a lot of science that goes into

the snowmaking process – which

involves breaking water into small

particles, cooling the water below 0°C

(32°F), removing the heat of fusion for

the phase change from liquid to solid,

and nucleation or seeding.

The primary forces in this equation

are evaporative and convective cool-

ing. The first involves mass loss from

liquid to vapor. When this happens,

these molecules carry heat away

with them, leaving the remaining

non-evaporated water droplets much

cooler and ready to freeze as snow.

Convective cooling is the warm water

droplet releasing into the cold

ambient air of the slopes, which can

also cause a drop in temperature.

SMI Snowmakers’ engineers

carefully and constantly analyze each

and every aspect of this process in a

variety of environments, using both

natural and mechanical forces in the

most efficient way, and thus

providing the best quality snow for

every desired situation and location.

Evaporative cooling is necessary and

its main secondary effect is water

loss. Water loss can also happen due

to other factors, including wind

drifting, sublimation and shorter hang

times. SMI’s technology has been

carefully engineered to minimize

these factors by using some of the

most powerful snowmaking

equipment on the market, capable of

landing snow on the targeted slopes,

using bigger nozzles to control

sublimation and fighting winds, while

maintaining unique hang times and

perfect snow density as needed.

SMI’s commitment to the science

doesn’t stop with high-quality

product lines. For the past 40 years,

the company has emphasized the

value of well-educated resort

operators who not only understand

this science, but actively participate in

its improvement and perfection.

There’s a lot that resort operators

can do to maximize snowmaking and

minimize losses, besides choosing the

right snowmaking equipment.

Maximizing snowmaking Cooling the water to 1.8°C (34°F) may

be one of the most important steps

in helping the entire snowmaking

process. Sprayers, bubblers and water

circulators can help as part of the less

expensive cooling concepts recom-

mended by SMI. Water cooling towers

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are very effective, but add extra

capital and operating costs.

To enable the correct water particle

size and distribution among the

nozzles, it is very important to use

appropriate water pressures for the

snowmaking equipment. Using

powerful fan snowmaking can help

fight the wind on medium and wide

slopes, while LowE sticks are typically

best utilized on narrow, colder

weather or lower priority slopes.

SMI’s latest automation advances can

be used for a fast start (when condi-

tions are met), consistent snow quality

via the constant adjustment to chang-

ing weather conditions, and for a fast

stop in order to avoid degrading the

beautiful quality snow which has just

been achieved.

Minimizing losses

Early in the season, the ground is

usually not completely frozen and has

latent heat, which causes faster

melting. To avoid this, consider

making an insulating layer of wetter

snow that can help freeze the ground

more effectively and create an insulat-

ing blanket from the warm ground.

This layer will last longer and help

cool the air above, while

protecting the top layer of snow from

melting due to the ground’s warmer

temperatures (see Illustration 1).

Always try to make the desired

density snow to help minimize wet

snow drainage and cure times – this is

very dependent upon resort location,

weather forecasts and other factors

(tubing slopes, Nordic slopes, race

slopes, and so on). Curing is a concept

usually ignored by many users, but

it is an important part of the science

of snowmaking. Snow is typically

produced in piles to allow the water

droplet extra time to completely

freeze. With SMI’s technology, most

snow is 100% frozen upon hitting the

ground. However, for many different

reasons and regardless of the

technology used, some drops are only

frozen like an eggshell. These take

Illustration 15

The December sun is at a low angle and fresh snow reflects 90% of this visible sunlight.

Less energy absorbed means cooler airtemperatures duringthe day.

Snow radiates energy efficiently at infared wavelengths.

On a clear night, this energy loss fromsnow-covered ground enhances the cooling of air near the surface.

After snow falls, temperatures follow suit.

1 2 3 4

available on the market today is

applied so that every SMI machine

can make snow that is very dry, if

desired, and totally frozen within

seconds of leaving the snow gun in a

variety of conditions. With hundreds of

innovative ideas, such as using 360°

oscillation or carefully written auto

flow algorithms at the heart of the

machine, SMI snow can be produced

on the exact spot needed and skied

on during production, while providing

the highest quality dry snow that

skiers love and expect. After all, when

it comes to perfect snow, one

person’s ideal may be wetter or

drier than another’s.

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For the past 40 years, SMI has

emphasized the value of

well-educated resort opera-

tors who not only understand this

science, but actively participate in its improvement

and perfection.

Fine spray water droplets (outside ring)1

Iced seed crystals (nucleator)2

Mixing3

Small frozen particles4

Bigger frozen particles5

Snow on ground: some eggshellform and some fully frozen

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Illustration 2

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more time to freeze completely as

a result of the cooling forces of the

snow pile (see Illustration 2). Most

expert resorts prefer to leave snow

in piles to cure for 6-36 hours before

pushing them out. Cure time is very

situational, depending on the day of

the week, the timelines for season

openings, storage needs for rainy

weather, as well as a number of

other factors.

Real-life experience

SMI’s experienced team of engineers,

designers and experts take these

real-life situations into consider-

ation when designing the latest SMI

prototypes and products. The most

advanced snowmaking technology

NEW PRODUCTS

please contact SMI or your local representative for more information and to see the Super puma

snowmakers.com/super-puma-snowmaker.html

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THE SUPER PUMA SNOWMAKERSMI is pleased to introduce the Super puma Snowmaker and Snowtower for the optimal fully automated big throw snowmakers.

The Super Puma excels in all

conditions, but has been developed

for marginal conditions. Utilizing a 25

HP (19 kw) custom designed fan with

75 water and 27 peripheral nucleator

nozzles. A 5 HP rotary vane

compressor is standard along with

center water feed, 359° oscillation, a

custom low and tight center of

gravity packaging.

SMI’s best in class automation offers

a color touch screen display at

eye level, easy to use menu driven

logic incorporated into SMI’s strong

SmartSnow™ software.

The Super Puma can be mounted on

3-wheeled frame, on jacks only, or on

various tower lengths and mounts.

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CUSTOMER STORIES

A new mountain and resort is being

developed that will host the

downhill, Super G and slalom events

for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games.

The slopes are being carved from

a forested area that covers over 25

meters (2700’) of vertical on this

rugged and rocky mountain.

The resort requires new roads,

buildings, power and communications

to support over 200 broadcast

towers. A new 128,000m3 (33M

gallons) pond is being constructed

along with a new base area.

The slopes will be covered by a fully

automated SMI snowmaking system.

Torrent is providing the 3750 gpm

(850m³/hr) pumping equipment, 2300

gpm (520m³/min) water cooling

towers, and 2235 gpm (520m³/hr)

booster pumping equipment.

170 automatic hydrants will feed this

water to 90 full auto Super PoleCat

towers, and 20 mobile Super and Kid

PoleCat fully automated fans. A fiber

optic communication backbone will

distribute the SmartSnow™ powered

software and intelligence system.

2018 will be SMI’s 8th Winter Olympic

Games being the lead provider of

snowmaking products and services.

We are proud of this history and

tradition, and your resort can be

confident that SMI remains a top

snowmaking company that is

rock solid.

2018 will be SMI’s 8th Winter Olympic Games making us the lead provider of snowmaking products and services.

2018 JEONGSEON KOREA ALPINE OLYMPIC VENUE

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SMI has been selected as the snowmaking supplier for the 2018 Olympic alpine Ski Resort in Gangwon-do province in South korea.

SNOW UNIVERSITY

U

SNOW UNIVERSITY “GODzILLA” EL NIñO

But understanding our local or

domestic weather patterns is not

enough. There are macro global

events occurring year after year that

can modify our precious snow

levels and affect our snowmaking

production.

This year, more than ever, we are

experiencing and identifying major

weather patterns across the oceans

that could and will indeed modify, for

good or bad, skiing and boarding

conditions all over the globe.

El Niño and La Nina are current topics

in the news as we approach one of

the strongest El Niño events

ever. Many weather experts are

predicting the possibility of several

extreme events from major droughts

to enormous floods, as well as colder

and drier, to milder and wetter

winters, depending on the area of

the globe.

Snowmakers and resort operators

should know about these macro

events and how they could potentially

disadvantage or benefit your resort.

These patterns have been repetitive

over the years and can provide impor-

tant insights into how to prepare for

your next season.

Why “El Niño”?

A couple hundreds years ago, South

American sailors coined this term to

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describe a warm southward water

current that appeared almost annu-

ally around Christmas time, near the

Peruvian coast. Hence the name El

Niño, Spanish for “The Child” which

refers to the Christ Child.

During the rest of the year a north-

ward cool current prevails because of

the trade winds, causing upwelling of

cool, nutrient rich water. But during

late December this upwelling relaxes,

North america

South america

as Snowmakers, we have to be prepared for immediate action at any time without warning. That’s why we’re constantly looking at the weather, reviewing and ana-lyzing at least a half dozen forecasts daily – and why we get to know our resort’s micro-climates in great detail.

El Niño is a warming of the eastern Pacific Ocean, mainly along the Equator. The thick red belt in this satellite photo indicates waters that are warmer than normal.

causing warmer nutrient-poor water

that signals the end of the fishing

season. When El Niño arrived, the

fishing was over.

Scientists in the early 1960s concluded

that these events were associated and

strong ones occurred inter-annually.

Since then, the term “El Niño” (or

warmer episode) has described not

only the local warm current, but a

warming of the tropical Pacific surface

waters occurring every two to seven

years and associated with changes in

the atmospheric circulation in

the tropical Pacific and

ultimately worldwide.

As the El Niño event begins, the

easterlies relax, reducing the amount

of upwelling and allowing the west-

ern warm water to move eastward

towards America. When weather pat-

terns are normal or there are typical

cold currents it is called La Nina.

El Niño’s presence, involves the

sensitivity of the atmosphere’s

circulation to shifts in orga-

nized cumulonimbus convection.

Atmospheric wave motions adjust the

climatological flow to the new tropical

energy sources. Associated with them

is a circulation of mass and energy in

the atmosphere that extends

several thousand miles pole-ward well

into the subtropics. From here,

a big wave-like pattern in a perturbed

flow is where it starts affecting our

ski resorts.

Consequences of El Niño

Dense tropical rain clouds distort the

air flow aloft (5–10 miles above sea

level) much as rocks distort the flow

of a stream, or islands distort the

winds that blow over them, but on a

horizontal scale of thousands of miles!

The waves in the air flow, in turn,

determine the positions of the mon-

soons and the storm tracks and belts

of strong winds (commonly referred

to as jet streams) that separate warm

and cold regions at the Earth’s sur-

face. This is what induces warmer,

colder, drier or wetter winters, where

either plenty of snow may fall or cold

dry snaps, ideal for snowmaking,

could be possible.

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accuWeather’s global weather center said the world could be facing the stron-gest El Niño phenomenon in 50 years.

Most El Niño winters are mild over

western Canada and parts of the

northern United States, and wet over

the southern United States from Texas

to Florida. El Niño affects temperate

climates in other seasons as well.

2015-16 Winter We are not into forecasting your sea-

son, but within this brief explanation

of El Niño events, the US National

Weather Service in August issued an

advisory giving 90% chance of one

of the strongest on record El Niño

weather patterns. NASA scientists

took it a step further saying the

2015-16’s El Niño has a Godzilla

potential, which will accentuate every

possible consequence.

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A big El Niño pattern will offer equal

chances for above normal tempera-

tures in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic,

portions of the Midwest and Southern

California. Warmer temperatures

seem most likely in Illinois, northern

California and Washington State.

There’s also an expectation for above

normal precipitation chances from

New York down the East Coast to

Florida, as well as in dry Southern

California. Illinois, Michigan and other

parts of the Midwest may see a

drier-than-normal winter.

The European Niño

Research suggests that the main

impact in Europe, is more likely to

be felt in winter, causing colder, drier

conditions in Northern Europe, and

wetter, milder winters through south-

ern Europe and the Mediterranean.

As an example, during the not so long

ago 2009-10 Niño, the winter across

Europe was exceptionally cold. But

there are many other variables that

affect Europe’s climate and there was

a deep, protracted solar minimum

at the same time, which is known to

increase the likelihood of colder

winters. And despite El Niño of

2006/2007, Europe’s winter was mild.

asia-pacific El Niño

Forecasts are not the best when we

speak about super-sized El Niño for

If you are inter-ested in more info

about a specific topic, would like to

comment or have something to share,

please forward any comments and ideas to snowuni@

snowmakers.com

Baltazar SanchezInternational Commercial Director

One of the other main consequences

of the predicted El Niño later this

year would be to boost global

temperatures.

It could mean either 2015 or 2016 will

become the hottest year globally on

record. In fact AccuWeather’s global

weather center said the world could

be facing the strongest El Niño

phenomenon in 50 years.

One way or the other, El Niño

will certainly have the potential to

grab the headlines later this year.

Although there are no guarantees, a

Monster Niño like this surely provides

an uncommon opportunity for us

Snowmakers to anticipate the climate

and tendencies well in advance.

Now that you know what El Niño and

La Niña means, start preparing your

pumps and SMI Snow machines and

get ready to have the best season

ever!! As even during wintertime, El

Niño is only one of a number of

factors that influence temperature

and climates. Make Snow, Go Skiing

and have the Most Vertical Fun!!

Asia and the Pacific. The 2015 typhoon

season is on pace to surpass aver-

age numbers and could challenge

the record number of super typhoons

since 1959.

El Niño will keep waters warmer than

average in the part of the Pacific

Ocean where tropical systems usually

develop. The rising air in this region

leads to a high probability of tropi-

cal system formation. During 1965

and 1997 seasons, there were 11

super typhoons. AccuWeather meteo-

rologists are forecasting nine super

typhoons this year, which will be the

third most active season on record.

And the Typhoon season is forecasted

to extend well into the winter, until

December, which is usually a quiet

month for these types of events.

Strongest El Niño ever, really.

The 2015-16 season may bring one

of the strongest El Niño events on

record, comparable with the one in

1997, which was distinguished by

record-breaking warm sea surface

temperature anomalies. Using this

comparison, you can look up your

resort records from back then

and prepare for this snow season

accordingly.

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SMI was pleased to host the 2015

SMI Clinic in Las Vegas, NV from

September 23rd to September 25th.

Our primary goal of the clinic was

to increase understanding of our

equipment while introducing fellow

snowmakers from around the world.

Day 1 was hosted by Las Vegas Ski

SMI CLINIC 2015 VIVA LAS VEGAS

and Snowboard Resort and consisted

of maintenance and training of the

Super PoleCat and Puma. Day 2 was

hosted by the SMI Auto crew who

went through electrical, auto and

SmartSnow trainings. SMI would like

to thank everyone in attendance for

their enthusiasm and positive spirit

that made this this event successful.

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VINTAGE SNOWNEWS

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VINTAGE SNOWNEWS